Ash receptacle



1969 J. v. VEVIRIT ETA!- ASH RECEPTACLE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 1. 1968 INVENTORS JAMES V VEVIRIT FRANCIS J IHLENFELD W QQQ/K- ATTORNEYS July 22, 1969 J. v. VEVIRIT ETAL 2 ASH RECEPTACLE Filed March 1, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 v I INVENTORS 6 24 6 JAMES v VEVIRIT 48 FRANCIS J. IHLENFELD BY Gi /UM Q1444 ATTORNEYS July .22, i969 Filed March 1, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTORS JAMES V VEVIRIT FRANCIS J. IHLENFELD ATTORNEYS 3,456,832 ASH RECEPTACLE James V. Vevirit, Williamsville, and Francis J. Ihlenfeld, Cheektowaga, N.Y., assignors to McDonald Products Corporation, Buffalo, N.Y.

Filed Mar. 1, 1968, Ser. No. 709,724 Int. Cl. 365d 7/24, 1/24, 1/36 U.S. Cl. 220-4 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The swingable closure plate of a Wall-mounted smokers accessory is provided with an exterior vertical wall portion which presents a touch bar surface for operating the closure plate in a position well removed from the exterior surfaces of the device which are apt to be soiled. The receptacle proper is in the form of a knock-down liner built up from several separate parts which interlock to hold the liner assembled without permanent securing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to smokers accessories of the wall-mounted type having an ash receptacle and a swinging closure plate therefor. The manual act of swinging such a closure plate to open position may require touching a part which easily may be soiled due to its location.

In the manufacture of smokers accessories of the type described it is of importance both to assure economical construction and to attain a pleasing and decorous appearance.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a completely assembled smokers accessory according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the supporting body and two of the principal components of the liner assembly;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged front elevation, partly broken away, of the assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a transverse section taken along the plane of section line 44 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 4a is a partial section similar to FIG. 4 but showing the closure plate in open position; and

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the entire liner assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is particularly adapted as a wallmounted smokers accessory and, to this end, includes a cover or mounting box which may be seen most clearly in FIG. 2. The box 10 includes a rear wall 12, opposite side walls 14 and a front wall 16 and for purposes which will appear presently, the front wall 16 is States Patent O cut away so that its upper edge 18 lies below the upper edges 20 of the side walls 14. The rear wall 12 is provided with suitable means such as the keyhole openings 22 serving to allow convenient mounting of this unit against a wall or other vertical surface. The cover box 10 may be provided with a bottom wall 24 and additionally or alternatively with liner support means such as the angle members 26. It will be appreciated, of course, that the surfaces of the box 10 exposed to view will be given a suitable decorative or pleasing appearance.

The liner assembly consists of four principal parts, the units 28 and 30 shown in FIG. 2 and the units 32 and 34, the entire liner assembly being shown in FIG. 5.

The unit 28 includes the front panel 36 and the opposite side panels 38 and 40 projecting rearwardly from and as integral extensions to the opposite ends of the front panel 36. The front panel 36 is cut away along its upper edge 42 so as to lie below the upper edges 44 and 46 of the side panels and when the liner is in place within the box 10, the upper edges of the front and side walls of the liner and box lie in common planes as may be seen in FIGS. 1 and 4.

With reference to FIG. 2, the lower edge of the front panel 36 is provided with a rearwardly projecting horizontal support flange 48 and a coplanar flange 50 may be provided along the lower edge of the side panel 38. The lower end of the opposite side panel 40, on the other hand, preferably simply terminates to present an edge 52 slightly spaced above the upper surfaces of the flanges 48 and 50, the purpose of which will presently appear.

In addition to the above, the side panels 38 and 40 are provided with vertical support flanges 54 and 56 along their rear edges which project inwardly toward each other for locating the unit 32 and which additionally present locating upper edges 58 and 60 as will appear.

The unit 32 presents a rear panel 62 provided along its lower edge with the horizontal support flange 64 and providing along its upper edge a rearwardly and upwardly inclined portion 66 leading to a vertical portion 68 then to a horizontal portion 70 and terminating in a downwardly and inwardly inclined stop plate portion 72.

The unit 30 presents a bottom wall 74 having along its opposite sides the upstanding clamping flanges 76 and 78 and which may be provided at one end with the downwardly bent hand grip flange 80.

The three units 28, 30 and 32 are adapted to be as sembled together and held in place by the mere act of their assembly, as will appear more clearly in FIG. 4. The two units 28 and 32 are first assembled so that the rear end edges of the rear panel 62 bear against the inner surfaces of the vertical support flanges 54 and 56 and with the offset portion 66 of the unit 32 resting upon the locating surfaces 58 and 60 of these vertical flanges. This will position the two horizontal support flanges 48 and 64 in alignment. The unit 30 is then inserted into place through the side panel 40 to complete the assembly. The aforesaid location of the side panel lower edge 52 clears the bottom panel 74 and the side panel 40 is provided with vertical notches 82 to clear the clamping flanges 76 and 78. When assembled as shown in FIG. 4, the clamping flange 78 bears against the inner surface of the front panel 36 and causes the clamping flange 76 to maintain the rear panel 62 against the flanges 54 and 56.

To provide a frictional retaining action on the unit 30 and also to assure clamping action by the flanges 76 and 78, these clamping flanges may be provided with inwardly struck tongues 84 and 86 which resiliently bear against the guide flanges 88 and 90 fixed, by their mounting base portions 92 and 94 to the respective inner surfaces of the rear panel 62 and the front panel 36.

The unit 34 presents a closure plate assembly andincludes the pintle boss portion 96 along its lower edge web 98. Pintle or hinge pins 100 and 102 are received in the opposite ends of the boss 96 and projected partially thereinto through the openings 104 and 106 in the side wall panels 38 and 40, and through openings in cars 101 and 103 struck from front panel 36 and extending through slits and 107 in pintle boss 96.

The web 98 is outwardly offset in the portiton 100 leading to the exterior vertical wall portion 102 of the closure plate unit with the wall portion 102 filling the gap between the side panels 38 and 40 above the upper edge 42 of the front panel 36 and effecting essentially a continuation of the front panel, as will be evident.

The upper edge of the Wall 102 leads to the fiat land portion 104 which leads in turn to the closure plate blade 106 and the blade 106 and land 104 are preferably joined by the downwardly offset portion 108 tending to isolate the land 104 and particularly the exterior vertical surface 110 of the wall portion 102 from any trash or foreign material lying in the pocket formed by the stop plate 72 and the blade 106. Thus, to open the closure plate by pushing on its surface 110 is well removed from any trash-containing region and virtually assures that this surface always will be clean.

To limit opening motion of the blade 106, the side panels 38 and 40 are provided with inwardly struck tabs 112 and 114. Normal closing action of the blade 106, on the other hand, is effected by a pair of resilient spring strips 116 and 118 the lower ends of which are anchored by the inwardly struck strips 120 formed in the front panel 36 while the upper ends of the spring strips bear against the inner surface of the vertical exterior wall portion 102.

As stated before, all exterior and visually exposed surface are finished to render a pleasing appearance. Devices of the nature described are used frequently in public buildings and, as such, often are treated by the public with less consideration than might be the case were they privately owned and, consequently, these devices become quite dirty. The location of the touch bar surface 110, however, is such that there is little likelihood of its becoming soiled. Therefore, even the most fastidious person may operate the device with impunity so that, as a result, operation is more frequent than usual and there is less opportunity for unsightly trash to build on in the pocket afforded by the plate 72 and blade 106.

Thorough cleaning of the assembly easily may be done by simply disassembling the linear when removed from the support, the liner being slipped into and out of the box.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings.

What is claimed is: 1. A smokers accessory Comprising, in combination, a receptacle having atop opening through which debris may be disposed for collection within the receptacle, a closure plate normally closing said opening, means pivotally mounting said closure plate for swinging movement into top opening position, said closure plate including 1a generally vertically extending exterior wall portion positioned above said means whereby manual engagement against said exterior wall portion is effective to swing said closure plate into top opening position. 2. The accessory as defined in claim 1 wherein said receptacle includes opposite side walls and a front wall, said side walls having substantially coplanar upper edges and said front Wall having an upper edge offset below said side wall upper edges,

said exterior wall portion of the closure plate forming essentially an extension of said front wall above said upper edge thereof.

3. The assembly as defined in claim 2 including spring means fixed to the inner surface of said front wall and projecting upwardly therefrom into bearing engagement against the inner surface of said exterior wall portion of the closure plate.

4. The accessory as defined in claim 3 including stop means on the inner surface of one of said side walls limiting top opening movement of said closure plate.

5. The accessory as defined in claim 2 including stop means on the inner surface of one of said side walls limiting top opening movement of said closure plate.

6. A smokers accessory comprising, in combination,

a receptacle including an outer cover box adapted to be wall-mounted and a liner assembly for said box,

said liner assembly comprising a first unit having a front panel and laterally projecting opposite side panels extending from the ends of the front panel, the front panel having a horizontal support flange along its lower edge extending rearwardly therefrom and the rear edges of said side panels having vertical support flanges extending inwardly therefrom in parallel relation to said front panel,

a second unit comprising a rear panel bearing against said vertical support flanges and having a horizontal support flange along its lower edge substantially coplanar with the first mentioned horizontal support flange,

a bottom panel for holding said first and second units in assembled relation, said bottom panel having a floor portion resting upon said horizontal support flanges along its opposite sides and provided with upstanding clamping flanges along such op posite sides, one of said clamping flanges bearing against the inner surface of said front panel and the other of said clamping flanges bearing against the inner surface of said rear panel to hold it in bearing relation to said vertical support flanges,

the lower edge of one of said side panels being located above the level of said horizontal support flanges and said one side panel having vertical notches receiving said clamping flanges, whereby said bottom panel may be inserted and withdrawn through said one side panel.

7. The accessory as defined in claim 6 wherein said rear panel includes a downwardly and inwardly inclined stop plate portion partially closing the top of said liner assembly,

a closure plate and means pivotally mounting said closure plate adjacent said front panel,

said front panel having an upper edge disposed below the level of the upper edges of said side panels,

said closure plate having a vertical wall portion filling the space between said side panels above said upper edge of the front panel and having a blade portion extending from said vertical wall portion downwardly and inwardly to complete the closing of the top of said liner, said blade portion having a free edge portion underlying the free edge of said stop plate portion of the rear panel,

and spring means normally urging said closure plate into engagement with said stop plate portion.

8. The accessory according to claim 7 wherein said spring means includes a resilient strip anchored at one end to the inner surface of said front panel and extending therefrom into engagement with the inner surface of said vertical wall portion of the closure plate.

9. The accessory according to claim 7 wherein the upper portion of said rear panel leading to said stop plate portion thereof projects rearwardly to rest upon the upper ends of said vertical support flanges.

'5 10. The accessory according to claim 6 including a pair of guide flanges fixed to the inner surfaces of said front and rear panels and inwardly spaced therefrom, said clamping flanges having inwardly struck tongues engaging said guide flanges.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 916,360 3/1909 McFarland et a1. 2204 6 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,132,237 3/1957 France.

686,111 1/ 1953 Great Britain.

5 GEORGE E. LOWRANCE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

